That Way Again
by Mrs.SterlingKnight
Summary: Gabriella and Troy were planning the rest of their lives together, but one little phone call and two white lies ruined it all. It's been five years, and Gabriella is back in town. She sees Troy with a woman, the sparks are there but he's married...right?
1. Trailer

**A/N: OK I'm going to try and write a new story. This time I'm going to finish it. I PROMISE. Most of my stories don't work out because I don't plan ahead, which I should do and I'm going to now. This whole story is written, but I won't update every single day. I will update once every week. And I will finish it because it's all written out. By the way, this story is based off a book I just read. Not Twilight but a really good book. I'll tell you the name of the book after I'm done with the story. **

**This story isn't going to be very long either maybe 15 or more chapters. I'm not sure. I might add a few more things. But I really hope you enjoy. And I'd appreciate if you guys would review because last time I only got three reviews so I would like more please. I'm not trying to sound greedy but they really motivate me and want me to do more. Thanks!**

**So here it is my new story ****That Way Again.**** I really hope you enjoy it.**

Troy and Gabriella were deeply in love at the age of 18.

"_I love you Gabi."_

"_Love you too."_

Everybody thought they would end up together.

"_I bet that Troy and Gabriella are going to get engaged as soon as they get out of high school."_

"_Yeah, I think so too."_

But there was one person who would split them up no matter what happened. That person was her Aunt Nicole.

"_Gabi, I'm telling you that boy is no good for you!"_

"_Aunt Nic we've gone through this before! Troy is not that bad!"_

And she did, she split them up.

"_I'm sorry Troy, but Gabi is going to Las Vegas to meet up with the guy she met last summer."_

"_I'm sorry Gabi, but Troy said he'd found someone in Los Angeles and said that he wouldn't be back for you."_

Suddenly one day Aunt Nicole dies

"_Poor woman, she was so young."_

Nobody ever found out about the truth.

"_I can't believe Troy did that to you."_

"_I can't believe Gabriella left you for that guy in Vegas."_

Now Gabriella is back in town after five years to sell her aunt's house.

"_Yeah, I'm back to sell this place and then I'm out of here. I won't be back, too many old memories."_

Will she run into Troy? Will they ever get back together? Find out in That Way Again.


	2. Leavin'

There wasn't a single man who was worthy of Nicole West's trust.

The only good ones were those with a tombstone marking their resting place, Nicole thought that hot afternoon.

She was sitting on her rickety old rocking chair waiting patiently for her niece, Gabriella Montez, to come home. A soft, hot breeze blew across her porch which ruffled her midnight black hair, but she didn't mind. She'd gotten used to the stifling Nevada heat. Well, not that day, anyway. What she did mind was that boy, Troy Bolton. If only there was some way to intervene between him and Gabriella. But her poor niece was too naïve, like her mother, to notice that all males were selfish pigs.

Just like Maria West, or Maria Montez, Gabriella thought with her heart, not her mind. Gabriella's mother had not listened to Nicole's warnings and she'd proved Nicole right at the time too.

Where the male gender was concerned, Nicole was never wrong.

Nicole picked up her icy lemonade from the table and took a sip of it. She'd had icy lemonade on her wedding day, she remembered clearly. She'd gotten up that morning with a smile on her face. Her mother had placed her snow white dress next to her bed. There was lemonade and a fresh batch of pancakes on her table.

Strange, she remembered that day when she hadn't remembered it in the past twenty years.

It was a good thing she didn't remember the day often because that was the day Nicole had gotten her heart shattered into a million tiny pieces. Looking back, she decided that it had been for the best. That day might have been painful, but her eyes were wide open where men were concerned.

That was a lesson ever woman should learn: A woman should always listen to her mind not her heart. A heart can easily deceit you.

Troy Bolton wasn't any better than Nate Williams. Nate could've at least sent a note, but he didn't, and Nicole was there, at the altar, waiting for him. She'd waited for two hours, two long hours that felt like centuries, before her parents forced her to leave.

If only she could make Gabriella understand. If only Gabriella would understand that men caused nothing but heartache. But Gabriella had that passionate Montez blood running through her veins.

If there was only one way Nicole could get them to break apart. She would do whatever it takes.

"Her mother shouldn't have died. She could've helped Gabriella see what's right," Nicole mumbled.

Maria was the youngest daughter of Michael and Michelle West. She was Nicole's absolute joy. Maria had been very intelligent and didn't care about men as Nicole had taught her. She'd gone to college, all the way to the top. Nicole thought her head would explode the day she saw Maia walk across the stage to get her doctorate degree in architecture.

Then, Dylan Montez walked into her life. He made his way into Maia's heat, she was suddenly thinking with her heart rather than her brain. It wasn't long before they had gotten married and had Gabriella. And no Nicole ended up having to raise Gabriella.

"Why couldn't Dylan have died instead?" Nicole fumed.

Her favorite and youngest sibling, Maria, had gotten diagnosed with breast cancer when Gabriella was just thirteen. Just after Gabriella's fourteenth birthday Maria had died. During her last words Maria had begged Dylan to let Nicole raise her daughter.

Four years of all that hard work and she still hadn't listened to her.

Troy Bolton had weaseled his way into Gabriella's heart. After dating him for a month Gabriella walked around happily in love. Even at the age of twenty, Gabriella wouldn't be able to think with her brain. She would let her heart rule her life and it would end up destroying her.

"Good evening," Nicole's next-door-neighbor came in around the corner. "You think it's going to rain?"

"I wish! Hopefully it rains heavily on the ocean and a whole bundle of men drown!" Nicole exclaimed. "I wouldn't be sorry to lose them all if Troy Bolton would just be gone."

"Still haven't knocked sense into her?" Anne Smith asked.

"She's thick-headed like her father," Bertha rolled her eyes as she set the lemonade down.

"Well, soon she'll be off to UNLV so you won't have to worry about her because she will forget about him. All those other young boys will take her mind off him."

"I don't want that either. She doesn't need a man in her life. She needs to think about her schooling and being independent. A woman doesn't need a man in her life," Nicole said.

Anne just nodded. Nicole had always been kind of strange. Ever since Nate had left her she had never liked the male gender. She'd taught at the school until the school board had made her retire. She even lived in the same house her parents and younger siblings had lived in. She's been a good friend and neighbors all of Anne's life. One thing Anne had learned from all those years was to never mention men around Nicole.

"Well, I just stopped by to say hello. Good luck with Gabriella. Talk some sense into her. Are you going to miss her?"

"Nope," Nicole shook her head. "I did everything to raise her properly."

"Well, I'll come over tomorrow, you make the lemonade, and I'll make the bread," Anne waved and disappeared across the backyard to her own house.

Nicole got up and walked over to the phone as soon as it started to ring.

"Hello," she said into the phone.

"Hi Aunt Nicole," Troy's husky voice made Nicole cringe. "Is Gabi there?" I've got a few minutes before I have to go."

"No, she is not here," Nicole said, and then she smiled as an idea popped into her head. "But she did leave a message for you."

"Oh," Troy sighed in disappointment. "Will she be home in a few minutes? I don't have another break for a few more minutes after this. Did she not get my letter about when I was going to call?"

"Yes, she said you were going to call at six," Nicole replied sweetly as she planned everything she was going to say.

Lying is a sin but God would forgive her when she was protecting Gabriella right?

"Is it six there?" Troy asked.

"No it's five thirty," Nicole told him.

"Well, I'll just go back to work then," Troy said.

"No! Don't do that! I told you she left a message for you. Listen to me," Nicole said sharply. "Gabriella is going to college at UNLV. She's made a lot of changes. I'm sure she's told you in her letters. There is a boy in Vegas that she met when she went to go see her father. Well, she and this boy plan on getting married after college. She also said that she would send her ring back and said that you shouldn't bother calling or writing to her."

"But…" Troy's voice cracked.

Nicole could hear the pain in his voice. Troy sounded devastated but Nicole didn't feel a single ounce of guilt.

"I guess you have to go?"Nicole said.

"I guess so," Troy said. "Would you tell her I love her?"

"I don't think she would like that right now," Nicole said. "She doesn't love you anymore. She doesn't need to hear it coming from you. Goodbye now." Nicole hung up the phone.

Nicole had never told a lie in her entire life. It was surprisingly easy. This was meant to happen since it poured out of her mouth so easily. One minute she was worried and now she was care-free because of two white lies.

* * *

Gabriella Montez sang along to the radio as she drove home from the McDonald's on the other side of town in Hawthorne, Nevada. Taylor, her best friend, and she had almost cried when they had parted. But Gabriella promised to come back every other weekend to plan Taylor's wedding. Gabriella being the maid of honor had promised to help out with preparations. And when Troy came back from Los Angeles she and Troy would get married.

Everything was perfect.

Nothing could go wrong.

Gabriella had been in love with Troy Bolton the day she had seen him. It hadn't been easy they'd been wise enough to know they couldn't get married as long as Troy was in LA. So she'd go and finish college while he was in LA. Then, they'd finish their dream, Bolton Architectural Firm, which would be set right there in Hawthorne.

"Aunt Nicole," she yelled as she walked in. "Guess what? I heard it's supposed to rain! Can you believe it? Rain? Here? In Hawthorne?"

"Troy called," Nicole said flatly as if it didn't matter.

"Oh, I missed his call?" Gabriella's voice was filled with disappointment. She sank into her seat across from Nicole.

"Is he going to call back?" He said six, so I hurried."

"He didn't say anything. He was the one who talked the whole time," Nicole said.

"He won't be calling back. He said he found someone else. You can keep the ring though. And he won't be writing any letters. Sit up straight. Don't slouch."

"He said what?" Gabriella's throat felt like sandpaper.

Gabriella knew she wasn't kidding. Nicole never played jokes.

"He said there was another woman," she said matter-of- factly.

"But I loved him," Gabriella whispered. "He never mentioned another woman, he said he loved me."

"I told you," Nicole said. "I've been saying that for the past we months. I told you he was nothing but trouble. Now go get ready for bed, you have a long day tomorrow."

"But Aunt Nicole, he said he loved me as deep as the Walker River runs." Tears started flowing down Gabriella's face.

"The Walker River is dry most of the year, so I guess he didn't love you that much."

"But I loved him so much." More tears leaked out of her eyes.

"No! You don't! Now go pack."

Gabriella dragged herself into her bedroom. As soon as she got to her bed she collapsed onto it. She buried her face into the big brown bear Troy had won for her at the carnival.

Gabriella's heart had been shattered into a million pieces. How could Troy do that to her? Just yesterday she'd gotten a letter from him which told her how much he loved her. How could he change his mind in a day?

Gabriella finally picked up her stationary and began to write a letter to Troy. She poured her entire heart out. The letter was then pages long. Each word made Gabriella's heart break even more.

She slipped the letter into the envelope and put two heart shaped stickers on it. One for Troy and one for Gabriella.

* * *

The next morning, after a night without sleep, Gabriella put the teddy bear in the middle of her bead. "I can't take you with me, Bear. Too many memories," she said.

"Keep this for me, Bear. If he calls I'll put it back on." She took her ring off, put it on a gold chain, and then looped it around Bear's neck.

Nicole whistled as she walked around in the kitchen. Should she make oatmeal of fresh toast?

"Don't cook for me Aunt Nic, I'm not hungry. I'm going to go load my things. I hope to be there soon."

"Well, drive carefully," Nicole said but didn't try and hug her niece. She had always thought that hugging someone made them weaker.

"I will, if Troy calls back please give him my number." Gabriella choked as she said Troy's name.

"He won't be calling back," Nicole said. "Now study hard."

"Okay, you have my address. If there's any mail just send it to me."

"Your dad already has your address."

"Well then, I guess I'll leave." Gabriella longed to hug her aunt but she'd learned to never do that.

* * *

Nicole ate her breakfast happily. She was glad how everything turned out. If Troy wrote letters she'd just burn them without Gabriella knowing. And if he called? She'd just repeat her story, which was becoming more real every day.

**A/N: Well, here's the first chapter! I hope you enjoy it. I worked really hard on it. The reviews for the first chapter were pretty good considering it was just a trailer. Thanks to all my reviewers. Your reviews make me want to make my chapters longer, better, and uploaded faster. I hope to see all the people who put this story on alert also give a review. Once again thanks for all the reviews I've gotten. I hope to read more reviews! Thanks!**


	3. Never Again

**A/N: Well, the reviews were okay. I mean I'm not disappointed because some people don't even get any, but I was expecting more. That's okay though. This is my first story so this is a good start, I guess. So let's try and get more, okay? I don't mean to sound greedy, but they're just so darn exciting! Anyway, thanks!**

Gabriella parked the car and stared at the house for a full ten minutes. Not a damn thing had changed. Not in five years. The lawn didn't even need to be mowed. Gabriella took a deep breath and forced herself to get out of the vehicle. She should have hired someone to do this. Surely there was a private firm somewhere that took care of liquidations when people didn't want houses anymore. But she'd studied enough psychology to know that this would bring some closure, and Gabriella felt a desperate need for that. Then, she could put her whole past behind her and fall in love again.

"Yeah right, like that's going to happen any time soon," Gabriella sighed as she swung open the door of the light blue Toyota Camry LE. "I won't ever feel that way again. I just know it!"

The lush grass tickled her toes as she walked across the lawn. Her heart skipped a beat, and then took off so fast that she could hardly breathe. She couldn't go into that house where she had to deal with so much pain, but she couldn't stay out either. She had to open the door, walk in, make decisions, stay a week, and then leaves Hawthorne forever.

She pulled the key from her shorts' pocket with shaky hands. This was silly! It was just a house! A plain three bedroom frame house in a small town in northern Nevada. This was the house she'd lived after she was fourteen years old. Where she'd lived when she met Troy…. She wouldn't go there. Not today, not ever. '_Not right now,'_ she told herself. She'd face that horrible nightmare later. Today's nightmare would be to walk through the house and see what she wanted to keep.

"Nightmare," she whispered with a half-smile, remembering her father telling her that she should get up every morning after a nightmare. Anything else that day could throw at her would be nothing compared to that. Well, today her nightmare was to walk in through that door without hyperventilating.

Gabriella took a deep breath and kicked the door open with her toe. It squeaked. If Aunt Nicole were here, she'd be on her knees by now with an oil can trying to grease the hinges. Gabriella set her suitcase and her iPod Dock on the floor next to the couch.

Stiffly starched antimacassars were pinned to the back of the sofa and easy chairs. Doilies were on every table in the room. She could see the reflection of her dark wash denim shorts in the glow of the oak hardwood floors. It looked exactly like the day she had left to college, taking everything she owned and a broken heart.

Gabriella stood in the middle of the room, taking in all her surroundings of the house that hadn't changed a bit from the time she was a toddler to today. If a murder had been committed here in this house, she would go over every little detail and use clues to create a profile of the perpetrator. That was her job. Pure, simple clues to find the person who'd done the crime. No matter what there were always clues. It had nothing to do with emotions or a broken heart. Just little clues and working up a psychological profile as to what that person were thinking when he committed the crime.

Gabriella's heart and soul had died in this very house one fine August day, five years ago. But she didn't need any clues or proof to know who the murderer of her soul was. She knew who that person was very well and he'd gotten away with it.

Anne Smith had kept her promise. Gabriella had mailed her a check every month to make up for her taking care of the property. Had it really been five years since she stepped in this house? For Gabriella it had been eons since her heart had stopped beating or functioning.

Gabriella took a deep breath and walked down the hallway into her old bedroom. It looked exactly the same as when she had left it when she left Hawthorne. The teddy bear still held a very prized possession of hers. The small, simple ring was still around the bear's neck. He was still protecting a futile future for her. She knew she should have thrown away the bear and flushed the ring down the toilet, but her heart wouldn't let her. She'd read so many love letters to him, sobbed with him, and stroked his fur so many times that it was impossible. The bear was a part of her life. Instead of throwing him away she'd given him five years of solitary confinement.

The ring was a whole different matter. She didn't know if she'd ever be able to throw it away. The day Troy Bolton had put that ring on her finger she had thought nothing could ever go wrong. How wrong she had been.

Memories surfaced around in her head like a kaleidoscope of colors. Blue, like her heart, Troy's eyes, and her car that Troy had helped to pick out just before he left for LA. The one car that she still drove because it reminded her of him. She had never thought about trading in her car and she never would. Like the bear, it was a part of her life.

"I did once, but I'll never feel that way again," Gabriella whispered to herself. "People who get it right the first time are way too lucky. There are only a few people who've gotten it right the first time." To be led around by her heart could get a woman in serious trouble

She tried to shake off the sense of dread that was seeping into her body. The front door squeaked open and she jumped. She relaxed when she heard Anne's weary voice.

"Gabi, Gabi, are you here?" Anne asked.

"I'll be right out there," Gabriella called back. She wiped the mascara stains that were rushing down her face and pasted a fake smile on her face. Nobody would notice, they never did, and just like that Anne wouldn't notice either.

"I looked out the window when I saw your car," Anne smiled when Gabriella entered the living room. Anne still looked the same she was one year older than Nicole, but looked a lot better than Nicole could ever. She still had that same soft smile on her face. Something about her made Gabriella feel a whole lot better.

"Everything looks wonderful around here," Gabriella said. Anne's hair was starting to get a few white spots here and there but she still looked great. She didn't stand as straight as she did before either. Aunt Nicole would throw a fit about how she was standing if she were here.

"Thank you," Anne beamed. "I kept it exactly how it was the day I found your aunt sitting in her rocking chair. Just sitting there like she did every day. I'm sure you miss her, seeing as she was pretty close to you. I'm glad you're getting rid of this house. I've decided to move to New York so I can be closer to my family. We'll be moving sometime this week."

"This neighborhood sure is changing pretty quickly," Gabriella commented.

"Yes, it is. All the young couples will buy most of these other vacant houses, I'm sure. I hope they take care of this house because Nicole and my parent have built these two houses close together. Our families got along well. You still have that car, I see." Anne nodded toward the front door. "I figured you would've traded it in after you got your degree. What did you major in again? Architecture, like Troy Bolton?"

"No," Gabriella said, her face was heating up at the mention of Troy's name. "I'm a profiler for the FBI."

"Oh, I thought you might've traded it in after getting such a professional job."

"I thought about it," Gabriella said. "I might trade it in after the auction."

Gabriella then walked over to the couch where her suitcase was. She got out her checkbook to write the amount. "Thank you so much Miss. Smith, you have no idea how much I appreciate this." She handed the check to Anne.

"Thank you." Anne slipped the check into her apron pocket "Good luck with your job." Anne stopped and looked at the house one more time.

"Thanks," Gabriella said. A smile was starting to form on her face and her mocha eyes sparkled.

Gabriella picked up her suitcase and carried it to her bedroom where she placed it on the bed to start unpacking. Two dresses for Sunday morning mass, several fitted T-shirts, short shorts, blouses, and a jacket. This should get her through the week.

She patted the bear on her way out of the room, no tingles were there, and maybe this wasn't going to be that hard after all. She'd just been overly dramatic again. That's what happens when you let your heart rule your body instead of the brain.

Gabriella's stomach suddenly growled. She just then realized that she hadn't eaten since she'd gotten there which was quite a while. Boy was she hungry.

"I think I'll go to McDonald's" she said to herself. "I'm so hungry I could eat a bear." She smiled as she walked toward her Camry.

Gabriella turned at the only stoplight in Hawthorne, Nevada. It also told them that the town had been discovered in 1881. Surprisingly, it had still managed to exist. The population of 3,127 people never really changed that much. Every now and then a family would move and another would come in. That's how it had always been that pretty much kept the population to the same number.

Gabriella nosed her car into a parking place in front. The place was pretty much empty except for a couple of ladies sitting there gossiping about the auction. "Well, it's about time she took care of that house. Poor old Anne Smith can't take care of it forever, even though the money is good. That girl must be richer than the Dows to pay that much just to dust the house once a week. I heard that Anne is leaving for New York soon. I went to her auction last week, picked up some pretty nice things. Wouldn't Nicole be mad if she heard all her prized possessions were being auctioned off? I'm going to be the first one there; I want those crocheted pieces for my house. And I've always wanted those little cherry end tables in her living room. They're very antique. Not just junk that you find these days," one lady said.

"Well, I'm going to be there right next to you. I've never seen the stuff but you can tell me what's good. I heard that Gabriella Montez was quite a handful for Nicole to raise. I bet she was just too much," one whispered to the other. "I've never met her myself but I've heard some pretty ugly things about her before she went to that Ivy League school back west and Nicole dropped dead a few days later. I guess Nicole's way of life wasn't good enough for her that's why she ran away."

"I've only seen her once at my great-granddaughter's graduation. That must've been five years ago. I knew Nicole all my life. She was strange but very honest."

They started whispering about something else and Gabriella wondered what was so bad about her. She'd gone to Vegas for one week and Nicole died the next and she'd never come back. Not even for the funeral. She was going to come back to help Taylor plan her wedding, but the she woke up to stomach pains. She was rushed to the hospital where they said she was diagnosed with acute appendicitis. She should've been there for two days at the most, but with complications in the surgery she was there for a week.

While Gabriella was in the hospital, her dad, Dylan Montez, planned Nicole's funeral. After that he went back to Vegas, where he lived.

Gabriella's father then told her that Nicole had left everything she owned to Gabriella. Gabriella then decided to ask Anne if she would take care of the house while she was in Vegas, where she belonged.

Now five years later, Gabriella was sitting there listening to women talk about her lack of virtues, Gabriella remembered that conversation. Was she ugly because she didn't cry when Aunt Nicole died? If it is, how did they know she didn't cry?

Gabriella had always been at the top of her class in school. She was obedient and did everything she was told. She even went to church, even though she didn't want to.

She pushed the last half of her cheeseburger away. It smelled horrid and tasted disgusting. An undercurrent of ill will chilled her to the bone.

Usually Troy drove home from the base through the desert to his house. The road was better through Hawthorne but he hated driving past the West house even today. Just a quick glimpse of the little white frame house still squeezed his heart with an ache. But he'd had dinner at his parent's house, so he had to drive through Hawthorne or go fifteen miles out of the way. He wasn't going to admit that someone like Gabriella Montez could still hold his heart.

He'd eaten way too much, but then he'd always eat too much when he had dinner at his parent's house. He moaned and patted his flat stomach, hoping to have a nice cold shower and then sit on his porch and watch the sunset.

'_Maybe I'll call Tammy'_ They'd been going out for a few weeks now, but it was nothing like what he had had with Gabriella. It wasn't as passionate. Just a little peck on the cheek, sometimes a lingering kiss, but nothing more. Since Gabriella, Troy has guarded his heart even more as much as when he had protected his country when he was in the Navy.

"I won't ever feel that way again," Troy reassured himself. "It was too intense and too deep anyway. Besides finding another woman like Gabi would be a miracle. I'll just call Tammy. No I won't! Nevermind she has to work," he mumbled, angry with himself for using Gabriella's special nickname.

"Tammy's probably too busy to even take a call from me and… _what is that?" _He stomped on his brakes leaving a mark on the road. He looked into the rearview mirror, and sure enough it was there. His mother's cooking had not provoked a hallucination. That really was Gabriella Montez's car sitting in the driveway. Five long years, and now she decided to come back to Hawthorne. Had she brought her husband with her?

"Gabi," he said hoarsely, wishing he could forget her name, her hair sparkling in the blistering hot sun. He didn't need to see her face every time he closed his eyes. Or the way she'd always wait for his car to be gone before she went inside.

He remembered the passion in her letters. Even when she was cheating on him. Suddenly he wondered what she'd done with the teddy bear and the ring he'd given her.

"She probably burned it with all my letters when she went to college."

He remembered the excitement building up when he was waiting in line to call her. Three minutes, that's all he had, but to hear her voice a second would be enough time. To know that she still loved him as much as he loved her. The first time he saw her mocha-brown eyes sparkling in the sun, he knew that this would be his bride.

Troy was sick all over. He remembered ever single work Nicole had said to him on the phone. He continued to stare into the rearview mirror. He saw that she had kept the car he had helped to pick out. It was still the same shade of blue. Blue to match his eyes and remind her of him every time she looked at it.

Even though Gabriella had said all those sweet things, he was still hurting, even today. Gabriella was the only girl in the world that could break his heart into a million pieces. Gabriella was the one he had wanted to marry that day, but now he would rather marry a pig, that's how much he hated her. Only he knew how much he had suffered, and he still is. And right now he hopes that she suffered even more than he did, or could ever.

**A/N: DONE! TA DA! I hope you like it, it took me two whole hours to write this. It's pretty long too. This time I also hope to see a lot more reviews, hopefully. I know a lot of you have put this story on alert, but I don't know if you're liking it or not. So please, please, please tell me because I won't know unless you tell me. Remember, I can't read minds. And I want HONEST reviews no matter how critical they are, just write them! Thanks!**


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